One of my colleagues, columnist Russ Lemmon in Vero Beach, sent me an email after he found out I'd agreed to dance.

"Whoa!!!," he wrote. "You don't strike me as a 'dancing' type."

Notice how he put "dancing" in quotes. His cautious punctuation was entirely appropriate.

At my house, "dancing" typically means gyrating across the living room with my preschooler and my husband. Hilarity rules, and choreography is not a consideration.

When I started learning Argentine tango in July, I didn't know a thing about the genre. I didn't know it was different from ballroom tango. I didn't realize how heavily it relied on improvisation.

Luckily, I've had two patient and talented instructors to guide me: Bob Murray and Kathryn Wong.

Murray has helped me learn to follow a lead — something that didn't come naturally for me. Any broader conclusions you draw from that are probably right.

Wong has taught me about the importance of detail. The angle of the toes and the spacing of the feet are small things that add up to a big impact in tango. I've started to apply some of that thinking to my non-dancing life, too.

Whenever I have a moment of doubt about taking the stage Sept. 22, I think about the reason for this event.

Healthy Start's programs, particularly its Prenatal Care Outreach Center on Salerno Road, have helped lift Martin County out of the basement when it comes to prenatal care rates.

Many of its clients are the working poor in our community. They are women who have jobs but lack health insurance; some have insurance but only bare-bones plans.

The money raised at last year's Dancing with the Martin Stars has covered ultrasounds, lab testing and other medical costs for women who don't qualify for Medicaid because they have insurance, but whose insurance plans require out-of-pocket costs ranging from $2,000 to $3,000.

Supporting these mothers and their babies, many of whom will grow up in Martin County, is something that benefits our entire community.

For that, I can tango.

If all else fails, I'll remember what Berry tells people to convince them to perform.

"It's only 2½ minutes," he says.

I'm sure I'll feel very alive on stage.

Hopefully, I'll make it out alive, too.Eve Samples is a columnist for Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers. This column reflects her opinion. Contact her at 772-221-4217 or eve.samples@scripps.com.